Sporting KC's Tim Melia named 2017 MLS Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year

Sporting Kansas City’s Tim Melia was named 2017 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year on Thursday, winning the honor after an excellent season in which he led the league with a 0.78 goals-against average and a 78.4 save percentage.

The honor completes a remarkable rise for Melia, who was cut by Chivas USA in the summer of 2014 and spent the second half of that season as an MLS pool goalkeeper. The 31-year-old only became a full-time starter midway through the 2015 season; he registered career highs with 31 regular season appearances, 12 wins, 10 shutouts and 91 saves in 2017.

Though his year was cut short by a hamstring injury that kept him out of SKC’s final three regular season matches and Knockout Round loss at Houston, Melia still had a huge impact for the club this year. SKC led MLS with just 29 goals conceded in 2017, the third-lowest total since MLS adopted a 34-game regular season format.

Melia also played a critical role in SKC’s run to the 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup crown, making a pair of shootout saves in the club’s semifinal win against San Jose before anchoring the backline in the 2-1 final victory against the New York Red Bulls.

The win gives Sporting a clean sweep of the league’s defensive awards; center back Ike Opara was named 2017 MLS Defender of the Year earlier this month. Melia is the third Kansas City backstop to win MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, the most of any team in MLS history. Tony Meola (2002) and Jimmy Nielsen (2012) were the previous recipients.

Melia ran away with the award with 50.29 percent of the average vote compiled from three groups: active players, media and club technical staff.